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As the blogosphere expands, diversifies and matures, many folks in the conservative blogging world are tempted to say that the mainstream, legacy, alphabet network media has become obsolete. Bloggers seemingly break more news, do more investigative journalism, produce high quality audio and video, and fill a void that newspapers are no longer able to fill. As ad revenue has shrunk, reporting staffs at newspapers across the nation have been slashed, and circulation is shrinking. All while consumers have an ever growing appetite for news, amplified by the instant access of social media. It is tempting to view this landscape and smugly conclude that we bloggers are the wave of the future, and it's only a matter of time until the MSM is little more than a memory.

The Hills Are Alive ...The Twitterverse was alive on Sunday night with the reverberations from the news that the loathsome Piers Morgan will be taking his anti-freedom talents back to England. Morgan was famous for two things: railing against the American concept of constitutional liberty, and tanking ratings. The wonder is not that his show is being canceled, nor that his ratings cratered. The only wonder is that it took so long for this decision to be made.

Last week, The Oregonian newspaper announced that it was cutting print circulation to 4 days a week, laying off most of its staff, and forming a new digital news company. In a mostly tacit, but sometimes explicit admission that print media is facing its demise, the oldest newspaper on the West Coast confirmed that the future is in digital publishing.

In March, I reported on the first signs of new life from the National Republican Senatorial Committee after the disastrous 2012 election cycle, in which conservatives lost ground in the US Senate despite expectations of actually taking over that chamber of congress. Given the rise of new media and the stagnation of legacy media, the NRSC has taken the initiative to facilitate communications by creating a new blogger outreach position.

At BlogCon in Dallas, many of us had the unique opportunity of being in the studio audience for two tapings of the Glenn Beck show at TheBlaze Studios. During a panel discussion on the harassment and intimidation faced by conservative bloggers, Glenn challenged us.

This week, the Republican National Committee released an "autopsy" on how the GOP lost the election in 2012 and where it can improve its branding going forward. William Jacobsen of Legal Insurrection noted that the 100 page report failed to mention New Media and bloggers as an opportunity to improve communications.